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Astronaut or not?

Everything that is sub-orbital or beyond.
 

DXing 11 Dec 21, 16:36Post
So with the 3rd blue horizon flight being completed, another 6 individuals have reached the altitude considered to be "space". The question becomes, are they truly "Astronauts"? Does a few seconds above the line constitute as qualification? Already alternate names are being considered, AA's for Amatuer Astronaut, Space Tourist, Space Visitor, and my personal favorite..."Cashtronaut"!!

Personally, since it's a cannonball shot up and down and they don't have to do anything other than go for the ride, I don't consider them professionals by any means. Thinking back to the film 2001 a space odyssey, would flying aboard the Pan Am moon shuttle then rate you as an Astronaut?
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
Mark 12 Dec 21, 19:04Post
I don't have the altitude numbers on the most-recent Blue Origin flight. However, the highest altitude recorded for a manned Blue Origin flight was the July 20, 2021 flight, which peaked out at 66.517 miles above the Earth surface. By comparison Alan Shepard's suborbital Mercury flight on May 5, 1961, maxed out at 116.5 statute miles.

Earth ends and outer space starts at the Kármán line, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the planet's surface.

I consider Blue Origin's customers to be Space Tourists. True astronauts, IMHO, do shit like push buttons, monitor flight data, and, as they did during the Apollo flights, choose landing sites and manually dock spacecraft, among other things.
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GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 14 Dec 21, 03:20Post
Rich Tourist.

Are people that fly in an airplane piloted by someone else considered pilots?

That's a rhetorical question, not a questioning for you. :))
Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey
paul mcallister 14 Dec 21, 10:44Post
I would go with rich tourist, it`s not an actual mission, or a test flight,
it`s one mega expensive joyride.
IFEMaster (Project Dark Overlord & Founding Member) 16 Dec 21, 03:17Post
DXing wrote:So with the 3rd blue horizon flight being completed, another 6 individuals have reached the altitude considered to be "space". The question becomes, are they truly "Astronauts"? Does a few seconds above the line constitute as qualification? Already alternate names are being considered, AA's for Amatuer Astronaut, Space Tourist, Space Visitor, and my personal favorite..."Cashtronaut"!!

Personally, since it's a cannonball shot up and down and they don't have to do anything other than go for the ride, I don't consider them professionals by any means. Thinking back to the film 2001 a space odyssey, would flying aboard the Pan Am moon shuttle then rate you as an Astronaut?


In my opinion, they're no more astronauts than people who fly on planes are pilots.

Having said that, Al Shephard's first flight was a cannonball shot up and down, and he was considered an astronaut.

Hell, Deke Slayton was considered an astronaut for 17 years before he ever flew.

I think we need a different word altogether to separate those who pioneered the risky business of spaceflight, and those who just buy their way up there. Astrotourist? Astropassenger? Astroflyer? Anything but "Astronaut".
"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
 

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